Middle East & North Africa

JERUSALEM, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged world leaders on Thursday not to open talks with Iran, as he departed to London to meet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the Islamic Republic.

The two will discuss "the situation in the region and the way to rebuff Iran's terrorism and aggression," the Israeli PM's Office said in a statement.

He will also meet there with United States Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to allow Syrian refugees to leave Turkey for Western countries unless a so-called “safe zone” inside Syria is established soon.

Erdogan made the threat in a speech to his ruling party officials on Thursday. He also said Turkey was determined to create the safe zone and would do it alone if there’s no deal with the U.S. by the end of the month.

He says Turkey aims to resettle about 1 million out of the 3.65 million Syrian refugees in the safe zone.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran was poised Thursday to begin work on advanced centrifuges that will enrich uranium faster as the 2015 nuclear deal unravels further and a last-minute French proposal offering a $15-billion line of credit to compensate Iran for not being able to sell its crude oil abroad because of U.S. sanctions looked increasingly unlikely.

Meanwhile, Iran released seven crew members from a detained British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero in a goodwill gesture and the mariners flew out of Iran, the ship’s owner said.

BEIRUT, Sept 5 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, denied allegations about Hezbollah being in control of the government.

“Hezbollah does not manage the government. It is only a political party that has a stake in parliament. I am the one who manages the government,” Hariri said.

Hariri, however, noted that, Hezbollah is capable of igniting a war for regional purposes, adding that, he is not responsible for Hezbollah’s activities.

MUSCAT, Oman, Sept 5 (NNN-ONA) – Labour and Social Affairs and Development Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), agreed on the recruitment of labour from non-GCC countries and empowering the different able groups.

The fifth meeting of the GCC social affairs ministers, hosted in the Omani capital Muscat, discussed a host of issues of common concern, a statement by the Omani Manpower Ministry said.

ANKARA, September 4. /TASS/: Turkey’s purchase of Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighters can be an interim decision for the republic, Turkey's Undersecretary for Defense Industries Ismail Demir told the A Haber TV channel.

"We are in the early stages of our talks with Russia [on fighter purchase]. Su-35s can become an interim decision for us. We need to hold extensive talks on various topics," he underlined.

ANKARA, September 4. /TASS/: Turkish military personnel has started training in Russia to operate S-400 missile defense systems, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense informed on Wednesday.

"Our air force personnel has started training in the Russian town of Gatchina to operate S-400 missile defense systems," the ministry informed on Twitter.

Earlier, head of the Almaz-Antey arms company Yan Novikov informed that Turkish personnel training would last from September 1, 2019 to January 2, 2020.

4 Sep 2019; MEMO: The Israeli occupation forces arrested 450 Palestinians, including 69 children and 13 women, during August, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Centre for Studies said on Monday.

The Centre registered 10 detentions from Gaza, including a fisherman captured while working off the coast, said spokesperson Riyadh Ashqar. He added that the Israelis arrested eight children from Gaza near the nominal border fence along the east of the coastal enclave.

4 Sep 2019; MEMO: Iran yesterday declared its willingness to sign a non-aggression agreement with regional countries, Anadolu reported.

Iranian news agency IRNA said the announcement came during a meeting between Iranian Ambassador to Oman Mohammad Reza Nouri Shahroudi and Oman’s Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah in the Omani capital, Muscat.

4 Sep 2019; MEMO: Moroccan authorities found the body of a man who disappeared during the floods which struck the country last week, raising the total number of victims to eight.

On Wednesday, floods covered a football field in the village of Tizirt, during a match between two local amateur teams, killing seven people. An eighth person went missing and a ninth was injured.